2008 Acura Rdx (fully Loaded) on 2040-cars

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The all-women Acura NSX team previews a way forward for racing

DAYTONA, Fla. — There is a team at the 24 Hours of Daytona that's just like any other team, with experienced drivers who rightly earned their spot in the top endurance racing series in America. They are prepared to run a full season in a competitive car, and they even set the fastest time in their class at the pre-season Roar Before the 24 test. The only difference between this team and any other is that its drivers happen to be women. We went to Daytona to talk to them about their journey to the race. The No. 57 Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo team features a roster of talented, experienced drivers: Katherine Legge, Simona de Silvestro, Bia Figueiredo and Christina Nielsen. While there have been four other all-women lineups at Daytona before, the No. 57 team is the first to be considered truly competitive. Team founder Jackie Heinricher, a biotech CEO who has raced in Ferrari Challenge, Global Rallycross Lites and Lamborghini Super Trofeo, was coached by Legge. Two years ago, she had the idea to run a car full of women – and not just a token effort, but rather a car full of drivers who could win. "The car does not know your gender, and I feel as if this sort of professional effort legitimizes that in a way that's particularly important and inspirational outside of racing," Heinricher told Autoblog. Heinricher had seen Legge struggle to get the right funding for rides before, so she didn't want to limit this team to whoever could pay. So, she first lined up the funding, thanks largely to support from primary sponsor Caterpillar. It took awhile, though, as many companies simply told her that they were out of racing sponsorships entirely. "I think perseverance might be the most underrated human quality," Heinricher said. "I just didn't give up." After funding was in place, she found a competitive partner in the Meyer Shank Racing crew, whose owner Michael Shank has run a pair of factory-backed Acura NSX GT3s in IMSA's GTD class since 2017. The GT3 shares an engine and turbo with the road-going NSX but ditches the hybrid system, making it about 670 pounds lighter. The No. 57 car is an EVO variant, which Legge helped develop, and it features improved aerodynamics to better suit it to the mix of pro and amateur drivers who take shifts racing in the GTD class. Legge had been on Shank's NSX team for the past two years as well, so Heinricher reached out to her for help assembling women who truly had the ability to win.

2014 Acura MDX ad campaign the most expensive in brand's history

Realizing that it must spend more marketing dollars to compete with the more established luxury automakers, Acura is preparing to launch its most expensive ad campaign ever for its redesigned 2014 MDX. At $78 million, according to Advertising Age, the new "Made for Mankind" campaign that kicks off next month is exactly double what Acura spent on the 2013 RDX launch last year. It's also the brand's first cooperation with its new agency, Boston- and Los-Angeles-based Mullen Advertising. Thanks to its bigger budget, we'll be seeing ads for the MDX pop up just about everywhere from television commercials, cinemas and billboards to videos focused on computers and mobile devices.
The first such video is entitled "Human Race," and it enunciates Acura's recent tagline highlight, the synergy between man and machine. More interestingly, the 2014 MDX, which went on sale this month, doesn't make an appearance in the 60-second spot until close to the end. This video is posted below as well as a press release from Acura along with images of various ads we should start soon.

Honda integrating Siri into select models

Honda has partnered up with Apple to bring Siri to the Accord, Acura RDX and ILX. Owners who have an iPhone running iOS 6 will be able to ask the software to perform a number of tasks via voice command using the vehicle's on board microphone and speaker systems. What's more, the tech will put the iPhone into an "eyes free" mode, which turns the screen off to help reduce distraction while driving. Honda says it has reworked its Bluetooth and HandsFreeLink systems to accommodate the Siri functionality. While the tech will only be available on three of the company's models right now, we imagine it won't be long before it shows up elsewhere.
As you may recall, Chevrolet integrated Siri into its products with vehicles like the Spark and Sonic, but Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler have also toyed with the tech to varying degrees. The seamless voice command seems to be light years ahead of the tech manufacturers are currently playing with. Check out the full press release from Honda below for more information.